Clera and Eleanor

Clera is underway with a Masters of Digital Media at Victoria University. During her current studies, she has had the opportunity to intern at Australia's Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), in its Asia Pacific News Centre.

Clera has over five years of experience as a government Public Relations officer in Papua New Guinea. She has written and edited news for online and print media platforms for government, held supervisory positions in the mainstream media as a senior reporter with two radio stations, and worked as a press secretary in the Deputy Prime Minister's office. She also has worked in very busy newsrooms and managed media content for over 12 legislations in a government department.

Clera would like to be a leader in the media industry and in her community. While at the Department of Lands and Physical Planning, Clera was the only person who worked on media and communications out of a nationwide staff of 300 people.

She would like to take her technical communications and leadership skills back to PNG to affect change and influence hierarchical systems. She also would like to influence how information is handled, ensuring that this is done consistently and with ownership by central management.

Upon her return to PNG, Clera plans to implement a social media framework within her workplace.

Eleanor leads the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research's (ACIAR) communication, stakeholder engagement and capacity building programs. She currently is the General Manager, Outreach and Capacity Building at ACIAR.

Eleanor is building a more proactive and high profile outreach program, which is designed to engage a range of audiences, including the research community, decision-makers in Australia and partner countries, and the broader community. She also is working to develop ACIAR's capacity building program to include new activities that target women and Australian researchers alongside ACIAR's successful doctorate, masters' and leadership programs.

As a communication honours graduate from the University of Canberra, Eleanor has worked in public affairs and communication roles for the Australian Government for more than 23 years, on a range of issues that include heritage, pollution, natural resource management, biodiversity, arts, education and training and superannuation.

Eleanor came to ACIAR from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority where she led the safety promotion and communication branch.